Sectioned skull in profile to left with the left side of the cranium removed
Medium
Etching: only state
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 5/8 × 2 15/16 in. (6.7 × 7.5 cm) cut slightly (c. 3mm) within platemark at sides
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
Accession Number
17.50.18-103
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate etching, titled *Sectioned Skull in Profile to Left with the Left of the Cranium Removed captures Leonardo da Vinci's meticulous anatomical precision through the skilled hand of 17th-century engraver Wences Hollar. Created in 1651 as a single-state etching on a modest sheet measuring just 2 5/8 × 2 15/16 inches, it depicts a human skull sliced open to reveal internal structures, showcasing the Renaissance master's fascination with the body's mysteries. Leonardo, a pioneering anatomist, conducted clandestine dissections around 1510–1511, producing groundbreaking sketches that ble...
About the Artist
Leonardo da Vinci|Wenceslaus Hollar · 1452–1519
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) stands as the quintessential Renaissance polymath, whose genius spanned painting, sculpture, architecture, science, mathematics, engineering, anatomy, geology, cartography, botany, and writing. Born in Vinci, Italy, as the illegitimate son of a notary, Leonardo received limited formal education but demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent from an early age. His appr...